Pitcher of the Year: Lyndsey PeQueen (Toms River East). No surprise here as the senior right-hander set Shore Conference career marks this season in strikeouts – 1,288 – and wins – 106. The Georgian Court-bound PeQueen graduated second on the state’s all-time win list and while some might think she peaked as a sophomore, when she struck out a conference single-season record 414 batters, other than the strikeouts her 2009 season was comparable to 2007. She went 26-4 this season with a 0.51 ERA, the lowest of her career, while striking out 341 batters in 207 innings. At the plate, she batted .500 with seven doubles, two home runs, 27 RBI and 17 walks.

Player of the Year: Leann Ventriglia (Toms River North). The home run race that appeared to be developing in April cooled a bit as the season went on as both Ventriglia and Colts Neck’s Kate Kuzma started hitting less bombs. Both players, however, were among the Shore’s biggest offensive threats all season. Ventriglia, a first-team All-Shore selection as a designated player, batted .453 with nine doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 25 RBI. She was second in the conference in homers and ninth in RBI and her 18 extra-base hits were second-most in the Shore. The junior third baseman’s power production came when most needed, as five of her homers came against teams that finished the season ranked in the final APP Top 10.

Coach of the Year: Ed Lowe (Brick). The Green Dragons finished 10-15 with a 2-12 record in Class A South, good for last place, in 2008. This season, with largely the same collection of talent, the team went 16-8, finished tied for third in the division and advanced to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III quarterfinals. It was Brick’s first double-digit win season since it went 13-14 in 2005 and the 16 wins were the most for the program since it went 18-2 in 1991, which was also the team’s last winning season.

Surprise of the Year: Toms River East won the division for the third consecutive season, again with an undefeated record against divisional opponents, but not one person familiar with the Raiders would have signed for one championship entering the season. In the final of the Ocean County Tournament, an event they were heavily favored to repeat as champs in, the Raiders ran into a strong pitching performance by New Egypt’s Emily Bausher and lost, 1-0. That game snapped the 21-game winning streak Toms River East went on after losing to Red Bank Catholic on Opening Day. In other local tournament action, the Raiders were eliminated by Middletown South in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals, a game that will be remembered for Jackie Bates’ two home runs off PeQueen. The biggest disappointment, however, came in the South Jersey Group IV final, where they lost on a three-run, walkoff homer by Williamstown’s Katie Trotter in the 11th inning.

Pitcher of the Year: Taylor Snyder (Red Bank). The senior right-hander has been a mainstay for the Bucs and she was again productive this season, helping the team win a share of the division title, its first division title of any kind, according to Asbury Park Press records that date back to 1986. Snyder went 14-10 with a 1.52 ERA and 151 strikeouts, leading Class B North in all three categories. She was a third-team All-Shore selection for the second consecutive year.

Honorable Mention: Carissa Van Dyk (Ocean).

Player of the Year: Cara Vitale (Wall). A quick glance at Vitale’s stats might lead some to think she hasn’t been the same player since she hit 13 homers, believed to be a Shore Conference record, as a sophomore in 2007. However, while the home run totals have dropped, those people would be wrong. Despite battling a leg injury most of her junior season and getting the Barry Bonds treatment by opposing pitchers over the past two seasons, the University of North Carolina-bound first baseman has remained one of the state’s most intimidating hitters. She hit .468 this season with seven doubles, three triples and four home runs while posting a .564 on-base percentage. That followed up a junior season in which she led the conference in batting at .577 and clubbed 16 extra-base hits. Vitale is believed to be the conference’s all-time home run queen.

Coach of the Year: John Moschberger (Red Bank). The 14-11 record wasn’t overly impressive, especially since that includes a 4-9 mark against teams from outside the division, but Moschberger’s team was able to stare failure in the face twice during the season and bounce back. An 0-3 start to the season could have derailed a team that had Top-10 aspirations in early-April, but it responded with 12 wins in its next 14 games to get to 12-5 and back on in the think of things in the division-title race. Later in the season, Red Bank suffered disappointing losses to Brick Memorial and Matawan, but shook those off to defeat Nottingham in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III playoffs.

Honorable Mention: Tony Vodola (Wall); Mark Frankel (Ocean).

Surprise of the Year: Wall’s co-division title and trip to the Central Jersey Group III final weren’t all that surprising, but the contributions the team got from various players were. Entering the season, everyone knew what to expect from players like Vitale and shortstop Kelsey Higgins, but a handful of others made vital contributions. Pitcher-turned-left fielder Ashley Campbell finished the season batting .397 with a team-leading 20 RBI, sophomore third baseman Kelly Mitchell hit .462 with a .564 on-base percentage, center fielder Vanessa Flores batted .351 and gave the Crimson Knights nice power production (six doubles, three homers, 19 RBI) while making some clutch plays defensively and Lindsay Wondrack chipped in with a .342 average while replacing Kiersten Burke behind the plate. In the circle, Ani Sasala started her sophomore season on junior varsity, but finished it with a 7-4 varsity record while pitching to a 1.74 ERA over 76.1 innings and leading Wall into the postseason.

Early 2010 Forecast: (1) Wall, (2) Ocean, (3) Red Bank.

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About Robert Ziegler

Robert Ziegler is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and has been an Asbury Park Press staff writer since September 2006.

One Response to Softball: Season in review, Class A South and Class B North

congrats!! to all the girls!!! i am so proud of my sister leann!! way to go!! great job!!! you are awesome!!!!

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Chris RotoloChris Rotolo graduated from The College Of New Jersey in May of 2011 and has been working in the Asbury Park Press' Sports Department since September of 2010 covering BlueClaws Baseball, Ice Hockey, Track & Field, and Cross Country, Tennis, and more. Follow along on Twitter: @rote7123E-mail Chris

David BiggyPart of the Asbury Park Press family since 1999, originally with the Ocean County Observer, David Biggy was brought to Neptune as a sports features writer in August 2010. Follow David on Twitter @BiggyAPP.E-mail David

Steve FalkSteve Falk has been a high school football writer at APP for a year. Previously, he was at the Ocean County Observer for 18 seasons.E-mail Steve